Rubiales happy for his players

Friday

Instead, the Lincoln High football coach, who leads the Trojans into tonight's Sac-Joaquin Section semifinal game at St. Mary's, feels elation. For his players.

"I'm (happy) for our kids," he said. "I want them to experience all the things past Lincoln teams have experienced."

Had a group of parents had their way in February, Rubiales would have experienced this season from the stands, not on the sidelines.

They lobbied the Lincoln Unified School District Board to remove him as head coach, complaining that he ran up the score. One even fumed over his use of the Wing-T offense.

The board retained Rubiales but pressured him to change his ways.

In an effort to appease his detractors, Rubiales installed the Pistol, a passing scheme, to utilize the talents of junior quarterback Robb Post. As the Trojans struggled to learn it, and the small offensive line was overwhelmed trying to provide protection for it, Lincoln fell to 2-3.

Late in Game 6, against Franklin, Rubiales reinstalled the running attack he's used for years, and although they lost on the field, the Trojans' season began to turn.

"We almost came back and won," Rubiales said. "That's really when the kids saw that our stuff works. I told the kids they didn't lose that game. They ran out of time."

It was the last time they came up short.

Lincoln has run off six consecutive victories.

Rubiales ought to be feeling pretty smug right now, content in the knowledge that he was right all along. He isn't.

He's not even sure this season's coaching job, which is probably is one of his best, will assure him his job next season.

He admits it's in the back of his mind, but it wasn't an issue for his coaches or players.

"He's been maybe a little more nervous, but he's just been Jim," said Jim Hall, an assistant coach for 15 years. "When you're a player you go out on the field and forget about things happening at home or in school. It's the same when you coach. You funnel your thoughts into coaching."

Had he not, the external pressure and the losing start could have cost Rubiales his team. Instead, he's taken it farther than he might have expected.

"We started off 2-3 and tried to convince the kids it was a tough schedule and we were in every game but one," Rubiales said. "We told them to keep their heads up, to keep plugging away, and they bought into that and got better and better. Each week they improved."

The most significant improvement came when he went back to running the football.

Although the decision may have irked his critics, Post isn't among the malcontents.

"Not at all. You have to do what you have to do," Post said.

The quarterback, his brother Tyler, a former Lincoln player and an assistant coach, and their dad were among Rubiales' more vocal supporters last February when his job status was in doubt.

The truth is, Rubiales' leadership never should have been questioned. Neither should his coaching style. He should be reveling, with his players, in reaching this advanced stage of the playoffs, not wondering if this might be his final game.